Friends are coming to the defense of a Florida mother being questioned after her daughter drowned in a bathtub.

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WJXT reports Josie Clay, 22, left her 14-month-old and 3-year-old alone in a bathtub at their Nassau County home Tuesday afternoon.

When Clay came back after leaving the girls alone for a few moments, she discovered the baby was underwater.

"She stepped out of the room for just a few minutes, and when she came back, the smaller child was under water," Sheriff Bill Leeper said. "Naturally, she was scared and panicked and needed assistance pretty rapidly.”

The Department of Children and Families and the Sheriff’s Office are investigating the drowning.

The mother is being questioned by investigators, who found conditions in the woman's mobile home to be "deplorable."

Friends say the drowning could not have been more than a freak accident, because Clay is known to be a caring mom.

“(She is) a really great mom, an awesome mom," Bailey McKnight said. "She goes above and beyond for her children. She always has her kids. Her kids are dressed to the best. They’ve got the nicest things.”

Another friend insisted "mistakes happen" and that "nobody's perfect."

“It’s devastating. It really is, because as a mom, I couldn’t imagine what she’s going through now and what she will go through," Kami Dayl said.